Nogales CBP Officers Seize $324K in Hard Drugs

TUCSON, Ariz. – Customs and Border Protection officers arrested two Mexican nationals in separate incidents Wednesday and Thursday for attempting to smuggle 48 pounds of methamphetamine and 10 pounds of heroin, worth approximately $324,000 combined, through the Port of Nogales’ DeConcini crossing.

Officers discovered more than 10pounds of heroin within the intakemanifold of a smuggling vehicle

In the first seizure, officers referred a 37-year-old man for further inspection of his Dodge truck Wednesday evening and found packages of heroin within the vehicle’s intake manifold. The drugs, weighing more than 10 pounds, exceed $181,000 in value.

Early Thursday, officers referred a 20-year-old man for a search of his Dodge truck and discovered multiple packages of meth behind both doors. The drugs weighed nearly 48 pounds and are worth almost $143,000.

CBP officers seized the drugs and vehicles, and turned both men over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.